Games of Logic and Strategy (eg. Chess, Backgammon)

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red+black said:
I've now been to the Melbourne Backgammon Club 4-5 times and starting to become a regular. We play a round robin tournament each week, and of the 3 5-point matches I get to play, I've always won one or two. Yet to manage 3 from 3 which would put me in the prizemoney.

I'm going to head down to Geelong Backgammon Club one Tuesday night so I can double my backgammon fix.
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Another 1 from 3 tonight. Lost a close match first up, then got smashed 5-0 by one of the club's best players (Albert), before somehow defeating a guy that beat Albert.

Turns out the Geelong club disbanded a couple years back, so just the 1 club remains in Melbourne. Apparently in the 70s and 80s there were heaps of clubs around.
 

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YOTC said:
oh sweet backgammon. Me and a mate play online about once a week. Although no matter who's turn it is, if the opponent has a 1 chipper (or w/e its called) you will land on it!
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the official term is a blot.
 
BACKGAMMON VIDEOS

Partygammon commercials
- Backgammon cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2HWEB4ZKM
- Backgammon boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha-5CdsFjOQ

Backgammon duel
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljYmT86FvDw

DMP at the 2005 World Championships
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvrNyV2JgoI

Final game of the 2007 World Championships
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zAIgDC1ZoQ

Ernie's Game (backgammon documentary of Ernie Pick)
- Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvqWjDEzOxo
- Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pU9xxUhUA
- Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWzAGrpv-oE
- Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05wEV2GIA3A
- Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VygmGHedmSY

PartyGammon.com Million (with Jesse May and Roxanne Siordia)
- Part 1: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=5272294949978423192
- Part 2: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=3864659163635073704
- Part 3: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-421541800289067415
- Part 4: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=1766920403766477781
- Part 5: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=5440277679104782248

World Series of Backgammon 2006, Riviera Cup, Cannes
- Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiC2_CVB5e4
- Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vocsbpWSiJI
- Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmYuKC61BRg
- Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sFkugbtJjI
- Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5dhcVidH-c

Gammon Night Live (with Kara Scott and John Clark)
- http://broadband.pokerzone.tv/ (do a search for Gammon Night Live)

2005 World Championships (with Kara Scott, John Clark and Paul Magriel)
- http://broadband.pokerzone.tv/ (do a search for High Stakes Backgammon)

Enjoy!
 

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Had my best night of backgammon last night. My three matches were 3-5, 5-4 and 5-2 and I finished in 3rd place, but still yet to bring home any bacon. In the 3rd match, I was cubed early and was almost ready to concede a gammon half way through before my luck changed and I was able to redouble (which was declined).

My goal is to snag a 1st or 2nd before the year is out.
 
What do you want to know about the doubling cube?

The Crawford Rule is a match play rule that says that the immediate game after one player reaches match point (and for that one game only), the doubling cube cannot be used. The gives the player at match point one opportunity to close out the match for one point, because the trailer will offer the cube in every subsequent game.

eg. playing to 7, Player A was 5-4 up and just won a single game to go 6-4 up (1-away, 3-away) (ie: match point). The Crawford Rule is now in effect, and let's assume that Player B wins a single game. The score is 6-5. Now, Player B should double at his first opportunity because whether he loses a game, gammon, backgammon, and no matter what the cube is, he loses the match, so he'd rather play with the cube on 2 than leave it in the middle on 1. With the score at 1-away, 2-away and the cube on 2, the players are at double match point (DMP). That is, whomever wins this game wins the match, and as such, gammon equity should be ignored, make the plays that are most likely to win a single game.

To add a little more complexity, the player at 1-away will always have one free drop. That is, if the trailer opened with a 3-1 and the leader replied with say 5-5, the leader should reject the double, concede a single game, and move on to the next game at DMP.
 
A very insightful article was posted over at GammonVillage, but you have to be a subscriber, so here is the guts of it. Prolific backgammon writer Phil Simborg has summarised the rules of thumb for checker and cube decisions:

Checker Play Rules of Thumb:

1. Always consider: can I hit, can I make a point, can I safety checkers

2. If I have to leave blots, can I use duplication to reduce risks

3. Can I hit and make a point

4. Can I hit two checkers

5. Can I make a 6-prime, and if not, can I make a 5 or 4 prime

6. Most of the time, in the early game, if you can make your 5 point, it's the right play

7. Try not to stack a lot of checkers on the same point

8. Try not to put checkers out of play

9. Try to leave indirect shots instead of direct shots

10. Offense/offense, defense/defense (when you are in an offensive position, tend to make the more offensive play, and when you are in a defensive position, tend to make the more defensive play)

11. If you fear being doubled, which play is least likely to get you the cube

12. If your opponent is on your 4 point or higher, the game is predominantly a race; if he is on lower points, the race is less of a factor

13. In the early game, if he has 2 checkers on his 8 point, be more inclined to split your back checkers

14. If you have more inner board points than your opponent, be more inclined to get into a hitting game, and conversely, if you have fewer points, be less inclined.

15. If you are up in the race, be more inclined to play safe and to run. If you are behind in the race, look for blocking and hitting opportunities

16. Generally, it is good to slot the back of the prime. Try to make your points in order and make points together.

17. Generally, if your opponent is at the edge of your prime, that's an invitation to hit him.

18. At Double-Match-Point, be more willing to take a big risk if the odds are in your favor and success means winning the match.

19. If you are at a score where saving gammons is important, making an advanced anchor is a priority. Staying away from back games is also a priority.

20. If you are at a score where winning gammons is important, attempting to blitz and hit is a priority even if it risks your getting into a back game. Try to keep your opponent from making an advanced anchor.

21. Any time you are not sure which move to make, put yourself in your opponent's shoes and ask yourself which move you would hope your opponent would not make.

22. When considering alternative moves, think about what gets you not only the most wins and losses, but also the most gammons and backgammons.

23. When considering moves, think about how your move might affect his or your cube decision on the next few rolls.

Cube Decision Rules of Thumb:

1. Think about your cube strategy, match equity, and take points, given the score, before each game begins.

2. Think about whether or not you should be doubling before every roll.

3. Major things to consider about doubling are race, opportunity, and threats. Assess all three in your decision-making process.

4. If you are thinking about doubling, apply Woolsey's Law: Put yourself in your opponent's shoes and ask yourself if you are sure if it's a take or sure if it's a drop, and if you're not sure, then for sure it's a double.

5. If you are thinking about doubling, apply Simborg's Law: Put yourself in your opponent's shoes and ask yourself which decision causes the most pain. Would you love to see the cube or hate to see it? (The goal, in Backgammon, is to cause as much pain as possible to your opponent.)

6. If you're not sure about giving the cube, ask yourself how you would feel if he takes it, and how you would feel if he drops it. That should give you some direction on whether or not to give it.

7. When you are thinking of doubling, always ask yourself if you are "too good" to double.

8. When you're not quite sure whether to give the cube or not, give it. You might be making a mistake not to cube, and you might be making a mistake to cube, but you only give your opponent a chance to make a mistake if you do cube.

9. At 2-away/2-away double as soon as you are up even slightly. If you're not sure, double anyway.

10. At 2-away/2-away take any cube if you think you can win 1/3 of the games or more. (Gammons and backgammons don't matter.)

11. If it's post-Crawford and you are losing, give the cube on the first roll every time.

12. If it's post-Crawford and you are winning, if your opponent is an even number away from winning the match, you might have a "free drop."

13. Don't forget that you are playing a human being, and take into account what you know, or think you know about that person's tendencies relative to taking and dropping cubes.
 
So we all probably know heaps about the WSOP, but who knows much about the World Championships of Backgammon? Well, it doesn't help that it appears that no one has ever taken the time to fully document the results, so that's where I come in. I've been researching the Championships and contacting various backgammon identities around the world in an effort to once and for all compile a complete list. It won't be easy, and new information is barely trickling in now. I've spent quite a lot of time on this over the past two months. You can see at the bottom of the first post that I've edited it 140 times so far!

My work can be found at:
- http://www.sydbg.uniq.com.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30
 
Another typical night of backgammon. Played this old guy Bob first who always seems to have my measure. I double him early and am leading the race as we bear in, but he keeps rolling above average and I keep rolling below average. BTW an average roll is 8.17. It gets down to me having one checker left on my ace-point while he has one on his ace-point and two on his deuce-point. He rolls double five to escape what seemed a few minutes earlier to be a certain win for me.

The swings in backgammon put poker to shame. Talk about rivers :rolleyes:. So then I play the club president who I've somehow managed to beat in the past. Before I can blink I'm 0-4 playing to 5. Well, somehow I manage to extricate myself and win 5-4 :thumbsu:

Last I play this guy Dan who's not as experienced as the rest but has consistently managed to finish many nights in 1st or 2nd place. He was up 3-1, he offered a cube, which I took as he was probably only a 55% favourite, but then he rolled 55 which hurt. I recubed to 4 so we were at DMP, double-match point, in that, whoever won this game would win the match. We were bearing off and he rolled boxes (double 6) which ended the contest.

So again, I finish the night with 1 win and 2 losses, but I felt I should have won the matches I lost and lost the match I won. Backgammon is like that.
 
Backgammon rolls back into fashion - by Nick Foulkes. Wednesday, 26th July 2006

http://www.spectator.co.uk/search/24206/backgammon-rolls-back-into-fashion.thtml

I learned backgammon from a precocious child on an aircraft in the mid 1970s. I would occasionally fly as an unaccompanied minor as well and on this flight I was sitting next to what was the prototypical North American brat. He had a backgammon set and during that flight I learnt to play the game. Moreover, rather satisfyingly, I beat him. As soon as I landed I pestered my aunt to buy me a set: a splendid creation in café au lait leatherette and synthetic velour. Ever since then I have loved the game — even though I do not play it particularly well (unfortunately mine is neither a patient nor mathematical mind). I don’t know whether to be delighted or slightly disappointed that after quarter of a century it seems to be making a comeback.

For me backgammon has been about the brittle sort of glamour encapsulated in Ian Fleming’s description of Count Lippe in his 1961 novel Thunderball. Lippe, plainly a cad, is an habitué of ‘the Ritz bar in Paris, the Palace at St Moritz, the Carlton at Cannes — good at backgammon, polo, water-skiing, but with the yellow streak of the man who lives on women’.

Backgammon was the game of the 1960s and 1970s, a time when the world was learning a new way to be rich. Remember the jet set? From the Clermont Club to the Croisette in Cannes, from Palm Beach to Puerto Banus, the air echoed to the rattle of dice and shouts of exasperation. Backgammon seemed to suit the times — fast, portable and decadent. Perhaps it was the increasing importance of the Middle East in world affairs, perhaps it was the gambling mania that had gripped high society in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s as fortunes carefully assembled during the 19th century by diligent Victorians were frittered away at illegal gambling parties and then at the tables of the newly legalised casinos. Whatever the reason, the ‘cruellest game’, as it was known, was everywhere — especially on bookshelves.

I have books on backgammon from that period and the imagery aside — swollen period typefaces and photographs that belong on the cover of a Harold Robbins novel — they are fascinating to read for the insight they give into the times. For instance Backgammon the Cruelest [sic] Game, published in 1974, is larded with gnomic quotes from Clausewitz, my favourite of which is, ‘Defence in itself is a negative exercise, since it concentrates on resisting the intentions of the enemy rather than being occupied with our own.’ The Clermont Book of Backgammon (1975), with a cover showing a large bow tie designed like a backgammon board, sees backgammon used as tool of geopolitical analysis; in it Archbishop Makarios is summed up as ‘a really terrible backgammon player’. Enough said.

I also remember backgammon making it into the movies, my favourite being in the opening sequence of a gloriously kitsch heist movie/jet-set gore-fest called Killer Fish starring Lee Majors, Margaux Hemingway and one of the Berensons.

I mention all this because the game has changed, like everything else, with the advent of the internet. Although it has not reached anything like the fanatical level of poker (nevertheless the 2005 backgammon championships in Monaco were filmed as a four-part television show), computer technology has altered the game in a radical way and accounted for a surge in popularity.

Backgammon has always had a slightly nocturnal edge to it; apparently this is why so many of the good players are Scandinavian, as it helps to pass the long winter nights, and the twilight world of the internet is perfect for the obsessive player who wants to minimise the human contact element to concentrate on the interplay of mathematics and chance. For the player who wishes to improve his or her game there are two excellent computer programs: Jelly Fish and Snowie.

These are excellent tools, but for me backgammon is first and foremost a stylish game. I love dressing up in a dinner jacket to go and play in a tournament, even though I tend to get knocked out in round one, and I am very particular about the backgammon boards I use. A few years ago I made the pilgrimage to Max Parker (www.geoffreyparker.com), who continues his father’s business making grande luxe games in an old piggery on the Essex-Cambridgeshire border. It was a revelation to learn about the stones specially designed by a Harvard maths professor and the ‘slip agent’ used to coat the playing surface in order to speed up play. One can play equally well on a magnetic set bought at an airport or on a computer screen, but what I like about the game is the sense of occasion.

Mark Birley once explained to me about the backgammon set he had instructed Hermes (Hermes.com) to make for him. It was fitted with a tapestry playing field. I had seen many backgammon sets, but never one in tapestry. I asked him why he had chosen this surface and he replied with what was in retrospect the obvious answer — that dice falling on tapestry made virtually no noise and would allow the players to enjoy their game without unwanted noise.

It is this rarefied pitch of civilisation that I fear will be lost if the game follows the popularity trajectory of poker.
 
Finally some validation! Haven't been to the backgammon club for 3 weeks, and tonight, although losing my first match 3-5, I won my next two 5-2 and 5-4 to finish 2nd out of the 10 players. I never even thought I was in contention going into my last match.

I finally got my rating back over 1500. Whether you play live or online, your rating starts at 1500 and goes up or down based on your wins and losses, and the magnitude of the swings depends on the quality of the players you play.

So for my $5 entry, I won a whopping $14 :p. Most, if not all of the guys play for $20, and thus, can win more. Playing against these guys is still -EV for me, so $5 a pop is enough for now. Would have won about $70 for 2nd if I'd played for $20.
 
red+black said:
Finally some validation! Haven't been to the backgammon club for 3 weeks, and tonight, although losing my first match 3-5, I won my next two 5-2 and 5-4 to finish 2nd out of the 10 players. I never even thought I was in contention going into my last match.

I finally got my rating back over 1500. Whether you play live or online, your rating starts at 1500 and goes up or down based on your wins and losses, and the magnitude of the swings depends on the quality of the players you play.

So for my $5 entry, I won a whopping $14 :p. Most, if not all of the guys play for $20, and thus, can win more. Playing against these guys is still -EV for me, so $5 a pop is enough for now. Would have won about $70 for 2nd if I'd played for $20.
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Congrats man. Would love to play you in a race to 5 online sometime...
 
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